Taking it up to a 10k

[Tulip73]

Now I can comfortably run 5K, I would like to move to the next level of a 10k, I am just curious to see what plans people have followed to get to 10k. I am still a bit nervous about making the next step

Thanks

[Rignold]

run 5k 3 times a week then do a longer run at the weekend. Incerease the distance of your long run by a km every week.

[Alex62 Graduate in reply to Rignold]

This is how I did it and you will be amazed Tulip73, how quick it increases and you will feel ace!

[Rob_and_his_westie Graduate in reply to Rignold]

Yep, worked for me. Take it easy, add a little every week.

[Irishprincess Graduate]

Another option is to run 3 runs a week, 1x 5K, 1x fast or intervals (about 3K) and a longer run slowly increasing your distance each week. Don't increase the total weekly distance by more than 10%. Or, you could try the speed and stamina podcasts here or some hills which will improve your stamina.

Just get into a routine and get the miles on the legs and you'll be amazed at what you can do. But take it slowly and take your rest days and try to do other exercise on your rest days too. It all helps make you a stronger runner.

[old_git Graduate in reply to Irishprincess]

This is the way I built up. I did a parkrun as the fast 5k, and the longer run on Monday.

If you want to improve your speed, intervals are the way to go, but you might want to leave that until you are nearer to 10k.

I found the pacing very difficult for slow runs, fast runs and intervals, so played around with 'Fartleks' until I felt a bit more comfortable with my fast, medium and slow paces.

good luck!

[Chrissy_b123 Graduate]

We were about to post the very same question so will follow the responses to yours instead. The C25k seems to be pretty standard whichever plan you follow, but 10k seems to have a lot of different options. We have started using an app called 10k runner which seems ok, starting at week 9 of the plan as we can already do the 5k like yourself.

[Lovefood1984 Graduate]

I was on a non plan plan (I.e. I made it up as I went along) I did 2x5ks a week and one which I increased by 1k or 0.5k (depending on how I was feeling) and just kept going a little further each week trying to beat last weeks distance I probably should have mixed my training around I.e. Threshold runs, slow runs, tempo runs etc. but I was and still am a bit of a novice and so usually do what takes my fancy. Whatever you choose to do I hope it goes well!

[SStirland Graduate]

Looks like you're doing really great so far, and judging by your posts you've not had any injuries.

To add another couple of options in addition to the great advice so far I'd suggest this Bridge to 10k plan (blog.bluefinapps.com/about-... ) which includes some short walks as you increase your mileage.

Or just increase your mileage or time by 5-10% each week (10% if your feeling confident), that's what I'm doing currently post-5k and have done over the years with cycling successfully. Make sure you keep a log of what you do so you can see what works best (maybe your dad has some old training logs for inspiration?)